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European Soccer: Despite Barça slip, coach stays calm

The Barcelona coach, Frank Rijkaard, was his usual diplomatic and debonair self despite the Spanish league leader going down to its second defeat in seven days.

The Catalan club lost, 1-0, at second-place Valencia on Sunday night. Its lead at the top of the Spanish first division, which stood at 12 points two weeks ago, is down to six points.

Rijkaard ditched his usual suit and tie for an open-neck shirt to view the game from the sidelines at Valencia's Mestalla stadium. The Dutchman said afterward: "Valencia is a good team with good players, but the scoreline doesn't reflect the fact that it was a very close game.

"You have to accept what happened. Defeats are part of football, it's not what we wanted but I want to congratulate Valencia who won."

Rijkaard, who denied that he thought Barça was below par, added, "It's always a pleasure to face a team like Valencia, as it is to play against all the good teams."

"Valencia counterattack very well. It's a tactic I'm familiar with, but it was still a very interesting game. It's just a pity we lost it but both sides fought very hard to get the ball."

The game was played at full throttle, evidenced by seven yellow cards, and there were a few fractious moments but very little of the pure brutality that has characterized many of the recent meetings between the two teams.

Barça faced its predecessor as Spanish champion Sunday without the suspended Ronaldinho, who also missed last week's 3-1 loss to Atletico Madrid.

The absence of the two-time World Player of the Year led to suggestions in the postmatch press conference that Barça was overly dependent on the mesmerizing Brazilian.

"This is what you would like to project but it's not the case. This is a strong squad," answered Rijkaard.

Barcelona must now look to regain its poise at home to struggling Real Betis on Saturday.

Ronaldinho will be back and Rijkaard will also be hoping that Deco and Lionel Messi will be fit again after minor injury problems kept them out of consideration for Sunday's game.

However, despite Betis's lowly position just two places and two points above the relegation zone, the Seville-based team is probably not the opponent Rijkaard would have chosen for Barça to get its championship campaign back on track.

Betis showed that it knew how to win in the Nou Camp when it beat Barça, 2-1, there in the preseason Spanish SuperCup.

ITALYJuventus tightened its grip on Serie A on Sunday when a late goal from Alessandro Del Piero gave it a 2-1 victory at Inter Milan, its nearest challenger.

The Italian striker hit an 85th-minute free kick to give Juve 66 points, 12 more than AC Milan, which moved up to second after a 4-1 victory at Reggina, spurred by a Filippo Inzaghi hat trick.

Inter also has 54 points. Fourth-place Fiorentina, with 50 points, lost, 2-0, at Livorno, allowing Roma to move within two points after a 2-0 triumph at Siena.

The Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic put Juventus in the lead in the 63rd minute, outpacing two Inter defenders and tapping in from close range a low cross from Mauro Camoranesi.

The Argentinian defender Walter Samuel tied the score 11 minutes later with a powerful header off a corner kick.

Del Piero, coming on for the injured Ibrahimovic in the last 20 minutes, scored past Julio Cesar.

At Reggina, Inzaghi, a veteran striker often sidelined by injuries over the past two seasons, took advantage of assists by his Brazilian teammates Kaka and Serginho to take his season tally to seven.

Alberto Gilardino added another for Milan, which trailed 1-0 after 10 minutes following a header by Carlos Paredes.

FRANCELille drew, 0-0, with Paris Saint-Germain in the French first division Sunday and missed a chance to move to third, while Marseille stayed sixth by drawing, 0-0, with Toulouse.

Lyon, which is chasing a record fifth straight title, leads with 56 points, seven ahead of Bordeaux, which has played an extra match.

But Lyon's title charge stuttered as it scraped to a 1-1 draw at Racing Lens and Girondins Bordeaux beat visiting Stade Rennes, 2-0. Sylvain Wiltord saved Lyon from a second league defeat this season with an injury-time equalizer after Jussie had put Lens ahead.

Bordeaux claimed its sixth victory in seven games with goals by Fernando and Vladimir Smicer. AJ Auxerre is six points further back in third after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Metz.